Mumbai reported 12 new confirmed cases of measles on Tuesday, according to a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) health department bulletin. With this, the number of suspected cases rose to 3,378 after the detection of 170 such infections on Tuesday. The State Health Minister, Dr Tanaji Sawant, chaired a meeting to review the situation.
The one-year-old kid, who died of the disease, was a resident of Nalasopara (East) in adjoining Palghar district. He died in a government hospital in Mumbai. After the detection of the disease, the child underwent treatment at a private hospital, but was later admitted to a government hospital. During his treatment he had developed respiratory failure due to which he was put on a ventilator on Monday. His condition continued growing worse and he was later succumbed due to his conditions.
The bulletin mentioned "acute respiratory failure in a case of measles with bronchopneumonia", as the suspected cause of death. Around 21 locations in 10 of the 24 Mumbai civic wards have been reported with measles outbreak. Currently eight hospitals are providing treatment to the disease in Mumbai.
Along with Mumbai, measles cases have been constantly rising across the nation. According to a data released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), India has reported the highest number of measles cases in the world between April and September 2022.
According to the protocol, patients infected with measles are isolated or admitted for treatment at eight hospitals in the city, including Kasturba Hospital, Shivaji Nagar Maternity Home, Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital, Rajawadi Hospital, Shatabdi Hospital, Kurla Bhabha Hospital and Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Hospital and Seven Hills Hospital.
To review the rising cases of measles in the city, Maharashtra Health Minister Dr Tanaji Sawant chaired a meeting in state secretariat in south Mumbai on Tuesday. The meeting was joined by state health department officials, BMC officials, and World Health Organisation's Dr Meeta Vashi and Dr Arun Gaikwad.
To prevent the outbreak of the disease, BMC is also conducting massive door-to-door campaigns to aware people about the disease. To reduce the vaccine hesitation, BMC has also launched a measles vaccination drive for children.
(With inputs from PTI)
